Intulo
There are no extensive or detailed descriptions of Intulo, the legendary lizard-man of both Xhosha and Zulu folklore. Most contemporary visual accounts speak only of a lizard-like creature with human characteristics, a single vague sentence that leaves more questions in regard to this being's physical attributes than it answers. Nevertheless, this does not deter speculation among eager modern cryptozoologists and enthusiasts who seem convinced that this infamous figure of the myths of the Nguni (a Southeastern arm of the greater Bantu family and common ancestors of both the Xhosha and Zulu) mythology, is actually an unusual primate of some kind that displays certain strongly pronounced bizarre reptilian physical characteristics, making him a distant relative of the elusive gator-men that are said by some to dwell in the swamps of the U.S. South African Lizard Man In the beginning, the sky-god Unkulunkulu (It is is debatable whether he was actually true divinity since the Zulu make no clear distinction between the all-creator and the first father of their people) descended to the primordial reed-bed Uhlanga. Breaking of all the reeds, he gathered every single one of them into two pairs. Out of each pair of reeds sprung a man and women. (There may just have easily been only one pair of the first man and woman and women brought into creation. Here too, the traditional accounts leave much to the translator's imagination). Thus did the ancestors come into existence. Then he proceeded to fill and populate the jungle with every manner of beast and the rivers and lakes with every kind of fish. After his great efforts of creation were finally over, he taught the ancestors how to till the soil and rear animals. Time passed and the question of mortality finally come to pose itself to Unkulunkulu who pondered for some length of time on whether death should have to be a matter that his creations would have to grapple with. Deciding in the negative, he finally sent the chameleon Lunwaba to proclaim to men that death would never be visited on them. And so his emissary set forth on his mission. But Lunwaba was not swift and timely, making his slow, trembling way way across the great distance as he always had, never once picking up his pace and even stopping every now and then to feast on the delectable shrubs of the bush called Ubukwebezane. In the meantime, for some reason that as yet remains unknown to mortal-kind, Unkulunkulu had changed his mind about granting immortality to his earthly children. A new message had to be carried. And so he summoned the blue-headed lizard being Intulo, commanding him to convey his new command: That death would befall mankind. And with those instructions, he dispatched Intulo. Unlike Lunwaba, Intulo did not disappoint his master. Swift and quick, he quickly reached his destination, while Lunwamba still persisted in sating the distractions that the latter met with on the path. And these words did the lizard-man speak to the race of mortals: "Let death befall each and everyone of creation! Let every man, and every beast, both tame and wild, succumb to death!" Zulu Symbolism Intulo is reviled by the tribes of South Africa as the cause of death and mortality among mankind and is treated as such. To see the blue-headed Intulo slither into any Zulu hut is immediately denounced as an ill-omen of impending doom. Category:Reptilian Humanoids Category:Cryptids Category:Humanoids Category:Africa Category:Cryptid Wiki Category:Reptile Category:Reptiles and Amphibians Category:Reptilians Category:Interactive